The Supreme Court is set to deliver its verdict on Monday on the bail pleas of seven accused, including student activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, in the alleged larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 Delhi riots.
Apart from Khalid and Imam, the bail petitions have been filed by Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa ur Rehman, Shadab Ahmed and Mohd Saleem Khan. All of them are accused in the case registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in connection with the violence that took place in northeast Delhi in February 2020.
According to the cause list published on the Supreme Court website, the judgment will be pronounced by a bench comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B Varale.
Mohd Saleem Khan, who is also among the accused, has been in jail for over five years. The Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on December 10 after hearing a batch of special leave petitions challenging the Delhi High Court’s refusal to grant bail to the accused.
During the earlier hearing, the top court had allowed both the petitioners and the prosecution to file additional documents in support of their arguments by December 18.
Opposing the bail pleas, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi Police, argued that the 2020 violence was not a spontaneous communal clash. He told the court that it was a well-planned and orchestrated attack and described it as an assault on the sovereignty of the nation.
“This was not a spontaneous act of violence. This was an attack against the sovereignty of the nation,” the Solicitor General had said, citing speeches, WhatsApp chats and other material to claim that there was a clear attempt to divide society on communal lines.
He also argued that the delay in the trial was caused by the accused themselves, alleging that they were not cooperating with the proceedings. According to him, each accused had taken several days to argue against the framing of charges, which slowed down the trial.
Earlier, on September 2 last year, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the bail pleas of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and other accused, stating that a prima facie case under the UAPA was made out against them.
